Insanely busy but here’s my quandary

I’ve been insanely busy with work and then insanely busy with school. What’s a social girl to do? Well, not be social, is my SAD solution. Hopefully, that’s not my permanent solution because as you know, I’m quite the social girl! Don’t feel TOO bad. I’ve had family visit a couple times in recent days, and I have some fun pictures from that. I’ll spend a couple minutes uploading these pics but not much more because I’m totally behind on being the #1 student:

Hogwarts Express cake

Amy, Wendy, and Regina

Yes, that’s a Harry Potter cake, which I got for my mom’s birthday. It’s rad. And who can forget the Wang sisters in the next picture.

Ok, on to my quandary. So, I’ve been living here for two solid months now. Why am I still getting mail from the previous tenants’ crucial mail? For example, cell phone bill, cable bill, credit card bills, and such. Aren’t those the kind of bills you change your address for as soon as you know you’re gonna move? I suspect that they died or something. But my family pointed out that if they died, those bills would go to their executors, which makes sense. So why, then, am I still getting bills for these people? Is it really possible that they are that lazy? I don’t know whether to be concerned or annoyed with these people. Of course, I’ve followed the usps advice, which is to return the mail, noting “not at this address,” but it’s weird to still get the mail after two months.

Just saying. Now back to studying.

I’m 33. How did I celebrate?

I’ve been a San Franciscan for exactly four weeks now, and I’ve been nonstop busy the whole time, so I still haven’t settled in to the new apartment (closet building, furniture assembly, etc.), much less, established much of a social base. So, I turned 33 on Saturday, and this was my first time commemorating my birthday alone. Don’t feel bad for me, because I had a productive and rewarding day. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you know that I kicked off the day with Salvation Army, Ikea, and Denny’s, in that order.

I dropped off a bunch of stuff at the Salvation Army, like my combination TV/VCR, and a rickety side table. Of course, I had to browse the books. There was a copy of Peter Walsh’s Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat?, which I kind of regret not buying I’ve gained five pounds in these four weeks, and I wonder if all the stress of the moving clutter is part of the problem. I know I “should” be above being bothered about weight-gain, but I can’t help it…I’m a chick and quite vain. Plus, I miss fitting into my favorite clothes. However, I picked up these two gems. Plus, everything was 40% off. –

Next stop, Ikea, to return a lamp I didn’t like that much, and to get some baskets for the four walnut EXPEDIT bookcases I assembled last week.

My appetite was perfectly timed, because right after I loaded up my car with my Ikea-ware, I was quite hungry, so I stopped at the Denny’s around the corner to get my free birthday Grand Slam.

Grand Slam picture from Dennys.com

I used to wonder who would be so pathetic to spend their birthday at Denny’s, and now I know! It was a trashy good time, and I saved $5.99, and it was actually really yummy.

I was so excited about all the money I saved,  I decided to stimulate the economy a little more, by buying this (PLEASE spare me the money-spending judgment):

I’ll take better pictures, but I just took this one really quick on my phone. I can’t wait to take it out, after I get a helmet and a lock. Yay for me!!

Jenessa was out of town on my actual birthday, but she made up for it by taking me out for some afternoon drinks yesterday to enjoy the sunny day at Heart and Dagger Saloon’s patio.

Pics from Jonathan’s birthday

I had a blast celebrating Jonathan’s birthday back in May. I admit, I only posted the pictures a few minutes ago, but to keep this blog reference-able, I backdated this posting to the actual date when it happened, which I believe was around May 20.

So, if you like this picture as much as I do, and want to see more, check out the actual birthday post.

Jonathan. It’s your birthday!

I’m posting this on July 12, 2010, which is why I’m apologetic about being late. Anyway, enjoy!

———-

So what if I lag about posting stuff? That’s part of my charm, right? Seriously though, I don’t mean any disrespect when I post things way behind what would be considered “timely” news. The reason is really because of my aforementioned “charm.”

Jonathan turned another year older (and I don’t think the term “older” is a bad word) on May 20. I’m lucky enough to know some of his dearest friends, so I crashed the party of course. I mean, what else to do? Happy birthday Jonathan! Here’s to a series of fist-bump-variation photos.

9-volts 9V

Now, for the SNAIL

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Fist bump (advanced), posted with vodpod

Sixth annual CAROLING birthday for Wendy

Yes indeed, it’s been six years since we’ve been making the neighborhood a better place. This year was unprecedented. We received such appreciative responses, 100%, from everyone we sang to. We were so touched. A lot of our favorite households from yesteryear weren’t home but we met a bunch more who were absolutely delighted with us. And when I say “delighted,” I’m not kidding around. I would put sparkles around the word “delighted’ if I knew how, but yes, this years’ responses were twinklingly stellar. Here are the small handful of pictures I took. The best depiction will be Kylie’s video. I know she’s been busy last-minute Christmas shopping, so her video won’t be ready today but stay tuned people, it’s coming, and will make you super jealous. Feel free to admire Kylie’s video from Wendy’s caroling birthday last year as a preview of how this year’s video may turn out.

Snowy weather caroling! No, not really. Just grainy camera-work. It was still very fulfilling. With our voices and musical talent, who needs the snow?

We ended on a high-note because awesome Indian food was beckoning us to headquarters.

Most importantly, don’t forget, it’s Wendy’s birthday!

A BIRTHDAY BABY ANGEL got in front of my camera?

Let’s make this an activity for you readers. Here are two group photos. What’s different between the two? I mean, there’s plenty different, but tell me, what’s the MAIN difference? Hint: It has nothing to do with the lighting.
group1

group2

Time to enjoy the cake. It’s not just any cake. It’s a Chinese cake that’s “not too sweet.”‘ We got it from Sweeties Bakery in Gardena and I highly suggest you get yours there too.

Regina handles that cake with a purpose

Did you notice that fine instrument Regina was handling a couple photos above? Here’s a close-up:
l

FYI, it’s “gao-ji,” which means “luxurious.” If you’re not sure, just check the packaging –
It says “gao ji” right on the package. It must be luxurious.

This means, here’s a Chinese lesson:

“gao ji” is LUXURIOUS

“dan gao” is CAKE

“dao” is KNIFE

So, now you know how to say “luxurious cake knife”!

I had a great birthday party

Thanks Charisse for taking and providing this pic of me

Of course, I didn’t take any pictures of my awesome birthday party because my camera was in my car. Yes, I think it’s retarded as well. I know Wendy took some pictures, so I hope she’ll be kind enough to share pictures with me. This is what I took this morning when I woke up starving:

Yeah, I woke up starving this morning. I pretty much wake up starving almost every morning but this morning, my stomach growled with hunger extra much. So I ate my leftover chicken tacos from dinner last night. It was awesome. Then I dove into the dessert selection Iris gave me from last night. She got me some beautiful cupcakes from Lark bakery:

I enjoyed a few bites of the flourless cupcake this morning (the one with the strawberry atop). INSANELY delicious.

So, Iris was the best date last night. Not only did she present me with the cupcakes I showed above, she picked me up for dinner, AND gave me a balloon dalmation. How awesome is that?

And my lady friends got me an even better GPS system than I wanted. Yay! My life is rad.

After dinner at Malo, we ended up karaoke-ing in Koreatown. Again, I hope Wendy will send me pics to share. We sang our hearts out, and I even lost my voice. It was really serious. If you’re reading this, and feel slighted for not being invited, please don’t feel too attached about being slighted, because that’s not the case. This was my first birthday dinner party, EVER. So, I didn’t know how or who I should invite. In other words, I’m super awkward about birthday dinner business. But I’m glad you’re reading this!

Let me know if you’d like to join the mailing list for my further birthday parties.

Jennifer’s birthday

Happy birthday Jennifer!

Jennifer’s birthday was July 26 and she invited us over on the 25th.

I thought I forgot my camera (turns out it was in my purse the whole time but I couldn’t find it in my messy purse), so I just took these two pictures on my phone. Don’t be concerned about the backlighting. Just take a look at The Virgin Suicides.

Rebecca and the birthday girl

Lauren, Steve, and Rebecca
This is the mac ‘n cheese and carne asada table. I didn’t eat the mac ‘n cheese because I was being good on my no-gluten intake but I know it was good because it cleaned up moments after I took this picture. I definitely partook in the carne asada, which was insanely good.

Happy 19th birthday Kylie!

I can’t believe my baby girl is 19. Well, actually I can. Kylie has become such a cool, fun, and mature young lady, and I really see her as a peer now. Plus, it’s pretty easy for me to not look at her as a little girl anymore when she’s been five inches taller than me for the past six or so years. Back when she was 15, I remember us older folk thinking, “what’s taking her so long to become 16 so we don’t have to drive her around anymore?” Well, happy birthday Kylie! I bet you’re having a blast on your first birthday with your COLLEGE friends. I love you so much!

Wendy, Kylie, and Charles outside the Taipei BAPE store
Originally uploaded by AmyRottencore

The picture above was taken in January during my Taiwan trip. I have a whole series from that Taiwan trip and there’s an entire series within that series of pictures on our shopping day in Taipei, and within that series, visiting the BAPE store. *NEW EXCUSE WARNING* I’m getting over a pretty severe cold so for now, after I finish this post, I’m going to cuddle up with some Harry Potter (I’m rereading Half-blood Prince in eager anticipation for the movie coming out on July 16. I can HARDLY wait! I have chills just thinking about it.) and post that stuff later. And yes, PART 2 of my robbery story as well. Oh! One more thing. Now that I mention Harry Potter, and this being a post about Kylie, I credit Kylie for opening up the world of Harry Potter to me. For that, I am so grateful.